Dr. Shellie Hipsky's

Sometimes it’s the quiet, unsung heroes whose tales must be told and celebrated.  At my last gala event to raise money for the Homeless Children’s Education Fund, a woman of high quality, Myra McNeil was honored with a well-deserved award.  Months prior to An Extraordinary Evening, I traveled with the Social Justice Conference from Duquesne University into  the shelters that I have been working with for years to obtain funding….

HCEF Founder Dr. Joe Lagana and I in one of the 12 Learning Centers in the shelters

I recalled a a quote from my book Ordinary People Extraordinary Planet, that detailed teenager Shannon McNamara’s story about helping 8,000 people in Africa by creating libraries and providing other resources.  She said during the interview…

EXCERPT FROM

Ordinary People Extraordinary Planet by Dr. Shellie Hipsky

“When we started SHARE, we got a list of all the needs in the community, which made people there feel like somebody was finally listening to them.” (p. 77).

Recalling those insightful words, I asked the woman who ran the Learning Center in the shelter, "If you could have any one thing for the kids what it would be?"  Her eyes lit up as she exclaimed "a WiiFit." She explained that it was not safe for the kids to play outside, there was no room, they are on a busy street, and many of them are in hiding from physically abusive fathers.  The WiiFit would provide hours of safe movement and entertainment.  I got on my cell phone as I pulled away from the conference, found a sponsor... and in a week, Dr. Lagana and I delivered the machine to a very happy shelter teacher.

Soon the time arrived to nominate the Educator of the Year for The Robert Morris University School of Education and Social Sciences. I had already seen Myra McNiell in action in the shelters taking care of and teaching children for little monetary compensation and acclaim.  We provided her two free VIP Tickets to the red carpet event which was also attended by the governor. 

I was delighted to see her face as Sheldon Ingram from Channel 4 Action News team read the description about all she had done for homeless kids after obtaining her degree at Yale University...

Priceless picture of surprise by our Educator of the Year!

Myra McNeill  receiving the Educator of the Year Award

Dr. Mary Ann Roth, Dean of the School of Education and Social Sciences at RMU

Dr. David Jamison, Provost Robert Morris University

Educator of the Year for RMU School of Education and Social Sciences, Myra McNeill

Myra stated in a note about our connection, "Thank you so much for making me feel so incredibly special this year.  You are a blessing!"  I feel from the bottom of my heart that people who live and work in the trenches with the children who have extreme needs are the true blessing to our world. 

Who do you know who should be honored for their great work?

CREDITS: Event photos taken by John Colombo

Superman changed in a telephone booth.  Now we now all have cell phones and there are no booths or any private space in sight. Many of the women I know seem to shove their capes into diaper bags hidden under the wipes or into the bottoms of their purses edged in between their favorite lip gloss and crumpled old post-it notes.  We don’t even whip them out to turn into super heroes for our families, co-workers, and charities we support… we just make it happen.  Day-after-day...  Well, Batman had his fabulous bat cave he could retire to after a long day and he had a fabulous sidekick Robin. 

That’s what we all need.  Not the gadgets and gizmos… or even the ability to leap buildings in a single bound.  Instead we need a personal space where we can relax and be ourselves and friends to support us in our journey while we “Save the day!”  I want this blog to be a space for comfortable discussions and reflection, together.

Lately, I have been doing multiple interviews, keynote addresses, and promotional events around my 5^th book Ordinary People Extraordinary Planet based on Ray Leonard's radio show heard in 75 countries.  How was I to know I would meet so many Superwomen (and some awesome male super heroes like Roy Juarez, Jr. of the Homeless by Choice Tour) as I zipped around between my multiple jobs?  My full time career as a professor at Robert Morris University, years of volunteer work for the Homeless Children’s Education Fund, book promotion, consulting work, public speaking, and being mommy to two children I adore… how did I connect with these awesome people?  Sometimes it was networking (as my co-author Dr. Bavaro and I taught in Mentoring Magic: Pick the Card for Your Success) and other times it was simply fate or friendships that have stood the test of time.  I feel incredibly blessed that I have such amazing people in my life. 

If you are one of my dear friends or would like to be…  I want to say THANK YOU and invite you to check back here to my new blog to see where our hidden capes can take us.  I want to hear about you.  Your hopes, missions, obstacles, and how you rise above them to help others.   Together, like Superman we will go, “Up… up… and away!”